For the past month or so, the academic world in this country has been abuzz with impassioned debate about Professor Steven Salaita, whose proposed appointment as a tenured professor in American Indian studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana…
read moreAs campus efforts to support boycotts of Israel universities intensify this year — and everyone expects them to in the wake of events in Gaza, the most challenging and controversial question about the movement that sponsors the boycott agenda looms over all…
read moreWe hear so much today about protecting rights of minorities. But not all minorities. There are 7 billion people in the world, and only 14 million Jews. It seems to me if any group needs protecting it is the Jewish…
read moreFive years ago, during an earlier Israeli operation in Gaza, the British novelist Howard Jacobson explained why “call[ing] the Israelis Nazis and liken[ing] Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto” goes far beyond mere “criticism” of Israel: Berating Jews with their own history, disinheriting them…
read moreA packed hall at Anyplace University. The audience, lulled into a syntactic stupor by the lecturer’s academic drone, is unprepared for the evening’s surprise performance. Suddenly, a small group of activists jump from their seats. While one member films the…
read moreOn July 31, 2014, a group of left-leaning historians called “Historians Against the War” posted an open letter to President Obama denouncing Israel’s actions in the Gaza War and calling for a cut-off of American military assistance to Israel. On…
read moreTemple University has become the latest focal point for groups concerned about the spreading wave of campus antisemitism and academic-based Holocaust minimizing. Temple student Daniel Vessal, a fellow with CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), was…
read moreATLANTA — AN old Jewish joke goes like this: “What’s the definition of a Jewish telegram? ‘Start worrying. Details to follow.’ ” I am often asked by fellow Jews about contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe. “Is this just like…
read moreApart from the Steven Salaita affair (best analyzed by Northwestern law professor Steven Lubet) and the occasional, if typical, borderline anti-Semitic comment from a member of Columbia’s Middle Eastern studies department, the summer has been surprisingly quiet, given events in the region,…
read morePrejudice sometimes takes gross forms, like physical violence, but it is not always so blatant. Scholars talk about “institutional” racism, sexism, or homophobia, since attitudes can militate against some groups, even when members of the dominant group consider themselves tolerant.…
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